Exercises for Hips & Thigh Fat at Home

Reduce hip and thigh fat by working your legs regularly at home. All you need is a chair and one floor in your home, along with a resistance band, and you can exercise them into shape. Three exercises that work your hip and thigh muscles include squats, leg extensions, and the abductor press.

Squats

• Work your gluteals, hamstrings, and quadriceps muscles in your hips and thighs by doing eight to 12 squat repetitions for three complete sets. Start by putting your hands on your hips, feet shoulder-width apart. Move as if to sit down in a chair, putting your weight more on your heels than your knees. Stop squatting as soon as your hips are level with your knees. Don't squat below the knee to reduce putting stress on this fragile joint.

  Return to standing position once you reach the knee level in your squat. Do not lean forward on knees during squat movement, as this will also place pressure on knee joints. Squats can be done at home with or without hand-held five or 10-pound dumbbells. Weights should be used only if the squat technique has been mastered to reduce injury.

Leg Extensions

• Use a resistance band to complete leg extensions at home. Wrap resistance band around ankles and sit upright in chair. Thrust leg forward, with band giving adequate resistance but not preventing complete leg stretch forward. When leg is straight, return to starting position and complete a total of eight to 12 repetitions before repeating exercise for other leg. Complete three sets of repetitions for each leg. Leg extensions work the quadriceps muscles in the thighs.

Abductor Press

• Use your resistance band for this hip and thigh abductor press exercise. Lay on your back on the floor with the resistance band around your ankles. Bend your knees slightly. Place your hands beneath your head or outstretched to your sides, whichever is most comfortable and provides you with upper body control. Spread your legs apart as far as you can before returning to the starting position and repeating for a total of eight to 12 repetitions and three complete sets.

  Bend knee more for greater exercise of the upper thigh and hip area, placing more emphasis on those muscles. The abductor press can be done without the resistance bands, replacing them with ankle weights from time-to-time, for additional workout benefit and challenge.